Grave-filling machine



Dec. 10, 1929; w. T. CONNER GRAVE FILLING MACHINE Filed March 15, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet l grwmtot Dec. 10, 1929. w. T. CONNER I GRAVE FILLING MACHINE Filed March 1:5, 19.29

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 10, 1929. w. T. CONNER 1,739,026

GRAVE FILLING MACHINE Filed March 15, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 gwomtoz (Mo t/we Patented Dec. 10, 1929 PATENT ()FFICE WILLIAM T. (BONNER, OF ELDORADO, TEXAS GRAVE-FILLING MACHINE Application f led March 13, 1929. Serial No. 346,740.

This invention relates toa grave filling machine wherein provision is made for delivering at a single operation and in a convenient and readily controllable manner the earth necessary to complete the filling of a grave.

The primary object of the present invention is the provision of a vehicle in the nature of a dump wagon adapted to contain the necessary earth and capable of beingmoved to a position above the grave and the bottom sections of such dump Wagon released to permit the delivery of the earth into the excavation.

A further object of the present invention is the provision :Of a frame for supporting the body with the end members of the frame telescopically related to the side members and the body proper supported on the side members, whereby the overall length of the ma 2c chine may be varied ithin limits to suit the requirements of the particular occasion.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a machine of this character in which the body parts as Well as the frame are telescopically related, so that the overall length of the frame and body may be varied at will to not only vary the length of the machine as a whole bu tto vary the capacity of the body.

A further object of the invention is the tirovision of means for mounting the Wheel support of the dump wagon so that the dun' p wagon may bereadily moved into either of two right angled directions, or conveniently as steered in moving from place to place to thereby facilitate the handling ofa machine of this character under the conditions incident to its use; that is, to avoid the usual obstructions and insure an accurate location so of the machine above and in relation to the grave to be filled.

A fin'therobject of the present invention is the provision of latching means bywhich tlreinova ble bottoms of the dump Wagon are held in closed position and released for delivery of the earth at the will of the operator.

The invention isillustrated in the accomp ying w n s, in wh'i l Figure l isa view in side elevation, partly broken out, of the improved machine.

Figure 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a broken plan of the frame showing the means for changing the direction of the supporting Wheels.

Figure 4t is a broken longitudinal section showing one of the latches for supporting the bottom and the means for controlling the latches.

Figure 5 is a transverse section on an en larged scale, showing the means for supporting the bottom sections.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of one of the latches and the operating means therefor.

Figure 7 is a plan of the frame, the body being removed.

Figure 8 is a perspective view of the latch locking means. i

Figure 9 is a transverse section through the machine, showing a modified form of means for supporting the bottom sections.

'11 is machine in the form illustrated in Figures l to 8 inclusive comprises a frame made up of end bars 1 of U-shaped channel iron, side bars including a hollow section 2 of a length approximately of the over-all length. of the body, and solid bars 3terminally connected to the end bars 1 and having telescopic or sliding relation in the hollow sec tions 2. Set-screws or other appropriate means 4 may be provided for securing the sections 3 of the side bars in prcdeteri'nined telescopic relation to the sections 2.

The frame is of greater length than Width and at therespective corners thereof, that is at the respective ends of the end bars 1, are mounted spindlesfi having suitablebearing support in the end bars, with said spindles carrying Wheel axles 6 on which are mounted ground Wheels 7. The spindles 5 are provided with radiating arms Shaving terminal openings 9 to receive links 10, the opposite ends of the links being of hook form to cooperate With any one of a series ofopenings 11 formed in the end bars '1.

The openings 11 are arranged so that when the link 10 is in cooperation with one of such openings, the spindle 5 is held in such position that the wheel carried thereby is parallel to the side bars of the frame, while with the link in cooperation with another of such openings, the wheels are held in parallelism to the end bars 1 of the frame. Thus, the bars may be arranged for the movement of the machine in either of two right angled directions on-its wheel base, thereby facilitating the positioning of the machine in the face of obstacles, such as grave-stones, graves, or the like.

The arms 8 at either end of the frame are designed to be connected by means of rods 12 with the main draft bar 13 pivotally connected at 14 to the center of one of the end bars. \Vhen the arms 8 of the respective wheels at one end of the frame are connected to the draft bar 13, the link 10 is, of course,

disconnected, and thus the forward wheels of the machine are readily steered by a proper movement of" the draft bar during movement of the machine.

A body 15, preferably of upwardly flaring form and of any appropriate material though preferably metal, is secured to the hollow sections'2 of-the side bars as by connectors 16. The body involves side walls 17 and end walls 18 and the bottom of the body is formed of two closures 19 hingedly connected at 20 to the hollow members 2 of the side bars, with the'free ends of such closures in approximately the central longitudinal line of the body when in closed position. The closures or doors 19 form abottom for the body to support the earth placed in the body and are designed to be independently or simultaneously released to discharge the earth.

' Tofacilitate the control of the doors, there is secured lengthwise the body and in the center line thereof a T-shaped angle iron or metal support 21. This T-iron extends longitudinally'of the body with its lower margin or edge slightly above the normal plane of the doors whenclosed. Secured to the support .21 are a plurality of latches for each door, the, latches jfor any one 1 door being simultaneously controlled.

The'latches, which are more particularly illustrated in Figures 4, 5 and 6, each comprises duplicate plates22 pivotally supported at 23 on the depending section of the T-iron support21. The adjacent 'edgesof the plates 22 above the pivots are divergent, as at 24, while the adjacent edges ofthe plates below the pivots aredesi-gned for contact when the latch- 111g plates are 1n latching position, such meeting edges being, however, each formed at a point 'below the pivot with a semicircular de pression 25 adapted, when the plates are in latching position, to form a substantially cir- V cular' opening.

Immediately below the opening, the edges of the plates are widely divergent, as at 26. 1

The relatively inner or free edge of each door 19 is formed with a projection 27 of a diameter to fit more or less snugly in the opening formed-by the latching plates when in latching position. It being understood that there are a series of projections 27 on each door and a corresponding series of properly arranged latches on each side of the depending web of the T-iron support 21, it will be apparent that as either door is moved to its closed position, the projections 27 thereof riding into the divergent portions 26 of the latches will spread the latches to permit said projections to enter the plane of the openings 25.- At this time the latches will swing toward each other by gravity and the projections 27 will be arranged in the opening of the latches.

It is, of course, apparent that the weight of the doors, particularly in the movement of the machine over the surface being traveled on, would tend to separate the latch plates and release the doors if means were not provided for securing the latch plates against such movement. To provide this securing means, there is rotatatively supported in the body, immediately beneath the head of the T-iron support 21 and on each side of the depending section thereof, a rod 28.

Each rod 28 is provided adjacent each latch with a pair of lateral projections 29, each pair of projections being so arranged that by the rotation of the rod, a projection may be brought into contact with the inclined edge 24 of a particular latching plate, each pair of projections thus serving one latch, with each projection 29 cooperating with one of the latch plates. Each rod 28 is provided beyond one end bar 1 of the main frame with a handle 30, whereby the bar may be rotated to lock the latches against release or to free them for release under the weight of the material on the doors.

If desired, the usual segment locking means, indicated in dotted lines at 31 in Figure 2, may be provided for securing the handles 30 in desired position, and for ease of movement, the projections 29 are preferably provided with rollers 32 to engage the edges 24 of the latch plates. Obviously, either or both doors may be released at will or when the material has been delivered from the body, the doors may be readily locked in bottom forming relation by moving them into locking cooperation with the latches and then operating the rods 28 to lock the latches against release.

Of course, it will be apparent that if desired but one door may be opened without releasing the other, thus directing the material along certain lines in its delivery from the body. It is preferred, however, that in operation both doors be Opened either simultaneously or in succession, so that the material may be delivered in a mass and the doors utilized in a manner to be described as a guide for such material.

If desired and as preferred, an inverted V- shaped shield 33 may be positioned length- 1,vee,eac

wise the body to overlie and protect the latches and their operating mechanism against the material contained in the body.

In Figure 9 there is illustrated a modified form of door supporting rmeans, involving for each door an angle iron 84 of right angled form. Each angle iron is supported upon. a rod 85 pivotally mounted in the end walls of the body and controlled by a lever 36 having locking cooperation with a notched segment 87. Here the angle irons 34 provide a horizontal ledge on which the free ends of the doors 19 are supported to hold the doors in bottom forming relation. When it is desired to release either door, its lever 36 is moved to rotate the right angled support 34c on the rod 35 as a center in a direction to move the horizontal ledge of the support downwardly. When this horizontal ledge has been moved to a substantially vertical position, the door is of course released.

On return of the door to closed position, it may be moved into contact with the now horizontal portion. of each right angled support, which horizontal portion is designed to assume a vertical position when the doors are secured. As the door is brought into on gagement with this temporary horizontal portion of the support, the lever 36 is moved to swing the temporary vertical position of the support toward a horizontal position. This portion of the support, riding as it does beneath the door, will, when reaching a hori' zontal position and with the lever 36 locked against movement, serve to support the door, as clearly shown in Figure 9.

It is to be particularly noted, as more clearly illustrated in Figure 2, that the doors 1%) when released from the latches or right angled supports, swing freely downward and form side guides for the delivery of the earth. It is also to be noted that the wheeled support for the body is of such height that when the machine is positioned above the grave and the doors released, the doors swing down 'ardly and outwardly wholly free of contact with the ground surface. In this connection and as a mechanical construction, it is preferred that the radius of the wheels be such as to permit the doors to approximately reach the surface of the ground as the doors open. In use, however, the wheels are mounted upon a longitudinal track in the shape of wooden sills to thereby raise the machine slightly above the ground surface to permit the free swinging of the doors. This provides that the doors when open form side walls above the grave for the delivery f the machine and thus permita rounding up of the material in mound formation between the doors. As the free edges of the doors in this position are slightly above the ground surface, it is quite apparent that the machine as an entirety, after the filling open ation is completed, may be moved in any direction away from its filling position, as the freedom of the doors permits them to ride easily over the mound if the machineis moved laterally, or permit them to ride free of the ground surface if the machine is moved longitudinally.

An important feature of the present invention is the utilization of the means for swinging the wheels bodily from one position to the other to permit the doors a swing ing movement in the open direction which will permit them to avoid interference with the heaped up delivered dirt. noted from Figure 7, if the wheels are in the longitudinal direction, as shown in dotted lines in that figure, the doors are prevented from swinging in the open direction beyond the plane of the wheels, andhence if it is necessary to move the machine laterally in order to avoid obstructions, the doors would scrape off a portion ofthe heaped up dirt. However, under these circumstances, the wheels are swung into the lateral position or that indicated in full lines in Figure 7. The doors are now entirely free of any obstruction and may be swung upwardly into a plane substantially coincident with the bot tom of the body and thus freely pass over any obstruction and particularly the obstruction of the heaped up dirt.

lVhat is claimed to be new is:

1. A. grave filling machine including a main frame, a body supported thereon, doors hinged to the frame, and latches securing the meeting edges of the doors in body bottom forming relation, said latches each including pivotally supported plates formed in their meeting edges with notches which together provide an opening, projections from the doors to seat in said openings, and inanually operable means for holding the plates against pivotal movement to free the projections from the openings.

2. A grave filling machine including a body, doors forming the bottom thereof, latching means for the doors including pairs of pivotally supported plates, the meeting edges of the plates below the pivots being formed to together provide an opening, the adjacent edges of the plates above the pivots being upwardly divergent, manually open able means cooperating with the divergent edges of the plates to hold the plates against pivotal movement, said means being operable to free the edges to permit the pivotal movement of the plates, and projections on the doors to seat in the openings in the plates when-the doors are in closed position.

3. A grave filling machine including a body, doors forming the bottom thereof, latching means for the doors including pairs of pivotally supported plates, the meeting edges of the plates of each pair below the pivots being formed to together provide an opening, the adjacent edges of the plates As will be lid of each pair above the pivots being upwardly divergent, manually operable rods mounted inand extending longitudinally of the body, projections on the rods to be moved between or fromthe divergent edges of the plates to hold the plates against pivotal movement or permit such pivotal movement, and projections on the doors to seat in the openings in the plates to hold the doors in closed position. a

4. Ina grave filling machine, a main frame,

- a body supported thereon, doors forming the bottomof the bodyand hinged at their remote edges to the frame, manually controlled means for latching the free edges of the doors in body bottom forming relation, wheels independently mounted on the frame,and means whereby the wheels may be moved into and held in either of two right angled positions,the wheels in one of said right angled positions being wholly out of the path of movement of the doors to permit an unobstructed swinging movement of the doors, whereby the machine may be moved laterally over a heaped up mound of delivered dirt without 7. door obstruction.

In testimon whereof I aiiix mysignature.

WILL AMT. CONNER. [1,. s.] 

